Star Fox: Ghosts of the Past
by Wing Ace
Summary: When Krystal is nearly put in a coma by a cryptic, and psychic, distress call, the newly reformed Star Fox team set out on one of the most ambitious rescue operations ever conceived.
1. Almost an Average Day

**Great Fox II, in Lylat System Space.**

Fox McCloud's eyes opened to a familiar sight: the ceiling. He rolled his head to the right and checked the time, 0751, before rolling his head to the left to find that Krystal must already be awake, as there was no-one on the other side of the bed. Sighing, he rose to a seated position and swing his legs out of bed. Moving across the room on bare pads, Fox quickly made his way to the chest of drawers and rummaged around, finding a pair of khaki combats and a white t-shirt, both of which he slipped on. Next he grabbed his pair of boots, and tucked the combats into them as he put them on too, and then headed for the door. He decided that his stomach would probably hate him later if he forgot to have breakfast, and turned to head to the aft of the _Great Fox II_'s crew deck, towards the mess hall. It wasn't really that much of a hall: just one rectangular table, with eight seats, and a door that led back to the kitchen, through which Fox could smell something incredible. A familiar feline face poked it's way through the kitchen door, wearing what appeared to be a sports top and a pair of jeans and beaming a smile.

"Hello Fox," Miyu said, in an almost singsong tone, "Krystal and I were making pancakes for when everyone gets up. Want some?"

"Oh, yes please. That smells godly." he replied, sighing for effect, "Need some help?"

"No we're fine here, although you could go wake the others." she suggested, her head disappearing again.

"OK, I'll go do that. Back soon!" He called, stepping through the doors and heading back to the Crew Quarters. Fox would have just preferred regular bedrooms, but the _II_, having once been a military ship, did have six bunk rooms, which they simply remodelled into six bedrooms, five for the crew and a guest room. He passed his and Krystal's and Miyu's rooms, and opened the next door to find a familiar blue avian tangled in the sheets, talons splayed over the end of the bed. He went over to him and shook him a bit.

"Heya birdie, rise and shine."

"Fox, for the millionth time, I am _not_ a morning person." The avian grumbled.

"Even when there's pancakes involved, Lombardi?" Fox asked, knowing what the response would be. Sure enough, Falco's eyes shot open, and he began trying to untangle himself from the mass of sheets. "Thought so."

"Screw you, McCloud." Falco replied, grumbling.

"Morning to you too, buddy." Fox retorted, stepping from the room and heading for the next.

There, he found an orange vulpine with blue-tipped ears already awake, sitting up in bed. He felt a familiar tingling sensation at the back of his head.

"_Morning, boss._" Joseph thought-said, "_Would've been up sooner if I thought I wouldn't wake the other half._" he added, gesturing to Fay, the white spaniel still sound asleep next to him.

Fox thought about pancakes as hard as he could.

"_Wait, as in Krystal and Miyu's pancakes?_" Joseph finally asked, hopefulness evident in his tone.

"Yup." he whispered.

"_Great, she loves those pancakes. At least now she'll forgive me for waking her._" Joseph replied, chuckling softly. "_I'll wake Fay. You go handle everyone else._"

Fox nodded and left, heading for the last occupied room. Inside was a grey vulpine, sitting awake on the floor, meditating, wearing only a pair of black denim jeans.

"Pup." Wolf said, opening his eye. Fox realised the cybernetic one must have picked up on his entry.

"Hey Wolf. Pancakes?" he asked.

"Sure, why not? Let me find a shirt. Be a little weird if a rocked up topless." the lupine replied, standing up.

"It's cool. Take your time, they aren't going anywhere. At least not until Falco gets there."

"Good point." Wolf replied, laughing briefly.

"See you there, then" Fox said, stepping out of the door and heading back down the hall. By the time he got there, there was a stack of twenty-odd pancakes on two plates in the middle if the table. Fox took his seat just as Krystal walked out of the kitchen, holding under one arm a folded white apron which declared, in purple lettering, 'CHEF, NOT THE WAITRESS'.

"Morning love." she said, putting the apron in a cupboard. She gave him a quick peck on the muzzle and pulled out the seat next to him.

"Morning, Krys. Sleep well?"

"Yep, definitely. I..." she trailed off, starting ahead of herself.

"You... what, Krys? Krystal?" Fox asked, standing and waving a paw in front of her face, to no avail. "Krystal? Hello?"

"_Svoj eb._" Krystal said, although she sounded like a thousand different voices speaking at once, "_Svoj eb._"

"Krystal?" Fox asked, "Are you alright?" At that moment, Joseph and Fay walked in.

"Hey boss, what's going..."

"_Svoj eb. Svoj eb._" Krystal kept repeating, her eyes now glowing like she was reading a memory.

"Wait, what?" Fay asked, "What's up with Krys?"

"Hang on," Joseph said, "that's Cerinian she's speaking. Why is she..."

Krystal suddenly stopped, and began to fall backwards. Fox bolted forward and caught her before she could hit the deck.

"She's out cold." Fox said, "What the heck happened there?"

"I don't know, but I remember a little Cerinian, and I know what _svoj eb_ translates into. And it's big."

"What does it mean?" Fox asked. Joseph closed his eyes, and Fox thought he was about to cry. Instead, he said two words:

"Help us."


	2. The Powers That Be

Krystal's eyes opened slowly, her vision blurred. However, she could make out a golden-furred figure with pointed ears above her. Two facts dawned on her; one, she was lying down, and two, the figure was...

"Fox?"

"Oh, thank Lyla. You're awake." He responded, relief evident in his tone. "You're in the Medbay on B-Deck, Krys. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by an aircar. What... what happened?" she asked weakly.

"You passed out on us. One second you were there, the next you were speaking Cerinian in a million separate voices at once, and then, boom," he emphasised this with a click of his fingers, "You went out like a light. You gave m- gave us, quite a scare."

"A million separate... what were they saying?" Krystal queried, cocking her head to one side as she was trying to remember the event.

"I don't remember the pronunciation, to be honest, but Joseph said it was Cerinian for 'help us'. He seemed pretty spooked."

"Svoj eb?" she asked, suddenly hopeful. "Maybe... maybe it was a Mass Distress Call!"

"A what?" asked Falco, who was stepping through the door with a tray of a trio of pancakes and a bottle of syrup. Instead of giving them to their intended recipient, he set them down at the end of the bed.

"The more Cerinians in one place, the better our telepathic abilities. It's why Joseph and I have a better range when we're close. However, it gets to the point where a good five or six hundred can send out a distress call so gargantuan you'd pick it up whole star systems away. I've never heared of one being used in my lifetime, so that's probably why I didn't realise how to respond and just passed out."

"Ah." was Falco's simple reply, evidently thinking the new info through.

"That's one possibility. That, or you've spent too long away from very large telepathic presences. I have too, mind you, but I'm only half-and-half. I thought I heared a whisper at the back of my mind, but I was too busy trying to help Fox get you down here." added a fourth voice. Joseph swung his head in through the door. "Boss, we've got Admiral Hare on the comm. Wants to speak to us. As in all of us."

"Understood. Are you OK to move, Krys?" Fox asked.

"Mm-hmm. Go on ahead, I'll be right with you."

With a nod, Fox stepped through the door, followed closely by Falco. The two of them headed for the elevator at the other end of the corridor, followed in turn by Joseph. There, they found Fay coming up from C-Deck, Engineering and the Hangar, and together, the four of them took the elevator up a floor to A-Deck, the bridge. There, they found Wolf at the helm, with Miyu standing over him.

"I didn't know you could fly capital ships, Wolf." Fox stated, surprised.

"I've been teaching him." Miyu explained, "Looking good so far, Wolfy, but you're lucky we're in zero-g, or we would've crashed into something by now. Your declination's way off."

"Course correction?" Wolf asked, turning his head.

"Heading three-two-five, declination zero-zero-zero" Miyu ordered.

"Three-two-five by zero-zero-zero, got it. Altering course." Wolf responded.

"_Wolf being bossed around a lynx easily two-thirds his age. I never thought I'd see the day._" Joseph thought-said to everyone else, except Wolf and Miyu, getting a quiet chuckle from Falco, and a grin from Fay and Fox.

The ship spun a few degrees to port and rotated 'up' as a screen snapped into place over the forward view. On it was a grey-furred hare, with a large grey moustache, and a red cap with the insignia of an admiral present on the front. While General John Pepper had recovered from the Aparoid infection he was in no condition to captain a ship, so Admiral Peppy Hare had taken command of the navy, with Pepper controlling the CDF Marines and SpecOps divisions, along with the Military Police.

"_Team, it's good to see you all again." Peppy began, "I... wait, where's Krystal?_"

"Right here." the cerulean vixen announced, stepping onto the bridge, "What's up, Peppy?"

She was wearing a custom flight suit, similar to what she flew in during the Aparoid Crisis. However, this one was purple, and had a white loincloth over the waist, though only as a decorative piece, and a pair of straps at the bottom of her spine, just above her tail, to allow her Enforcer staff to be clipped within easy reach, which was where it currently resided. On her forehead was a silver circlet, with an amethyst set in the center, and her two tail rings glittered in her tailfur.

"_Well,_" Peppy continued, "_Many Cornerian citizens have just recently complained of hearing a voice in the back of their head, telling them that it needs help. Given Krystal past affinity with distress calls of this nature, I figured she might have the answer we need. I'll pass you over to our new director of R&D. I'm sure you'll know him. Hare out._"

With that the screen began to show a different face, which Fox, Krystal, Falco and Wolf recognised.

"Slippy?"

"_Guys? GUYS! Peppy didn't tell me that he was sending you guys! I didn't even know you were still going as a team._" the amphibian glanced at Joseph and Fay, then Miyu, then Wolf.

"_I see you've got some new pilots. And a familiar face. Long time no see, O'Donnell._"

"Toad" came the short reply.

"Slippy," Fox said, "Your the CDF's Research director?"

"_Well, Dad had to retire at some point, so he handed that reins to someone he could trust: me. Anyway I... wait, where were you just now Krys?_"

"In the medbay, unconscious from the very same call that we're all here for. So no, I don't know for sure, but I've got a pretty good idea what's caused them to pick it up. Do we have blood tests from any citizenship exams, from non-Cornerians, barring myself? A random one, who didn't hear the distress call."

"_Let me see... Ah, I've got one here. Commander Akita Watanabe, of the CSV Valorous._" A picture of a black-furred Katinese jaguar snapped on screen. Her medical results flashed up to the picture's right, and then focused on the blood sample.

"OK, now compare that with someone who did." Krystal said.

A second face, a Zonessian raven, also female, appeared in Akari's place. The name flashed up as "_DR. MARIA DEMARCO, PHD_". Falco wolf-whistled in admiration, and Miyu, being closest, consequently smacked him on the back of the head.

"_This is the only member of my research team to be affected. The docs noted a high level of some elements, like cobalt, in her blood, but it was nothing fatal, so it was just left be. Other than that, no abnormalities._"

"Right, now compare those two in order with Joseph Clarke's scan" she said pointing to him, "And then mine."

Slippy checked the records, and his eyes widened. "_His are at almost painful levels, and yours fatal. How was something like that overlooked_?"

"Cerinian blood contains cerinite, **(AN- pronounced seh-rih-night)** a native element which both our planet and people were named after. Apparently, it's what gives us our telepathic abilities, and, evidently, Cornerian scanners pick it up as cobalt, which it must clearly be similar to."

"_So the distress call was, almost intelligently, mistaking the high level of cobalt for this cerinite, and gave the affected people the signal_?" the amphibian asked, catching on.

"I believe so, but I might be wrong... wait, do you have a record of the affected people's times of reporting the signal? The pattern should, if I'm correct, show up as an expanding curve."

"_It does._" the amphibian said, after a quick check, "_How'd you figure that_?"

"Guessed, if I'm honest. If that curve were part of a circle, where would t's predicted point of origin be?" Krystal asked, praying she was right.

Slippy ran the data through a simulation. "_Ummmm... here!_" He yelled at last. He showed them the circle as it tightened to a dot at a point about a light-year out-system.

"_This is brilliant Krystal; if we've got a point of origin then I can get a warp gate set to go for the II's arrival. Hell, I could gate you here if you want._"

"That'd be brilliant, Slip." Fox said, beaming, "We're at stellar coord-"

"_It's OK, the calls got a trace. We've already got the Zypher Ring expanded on our end, should see it any second now._" Slippy replied.

Sure enough, a gargantuan emerald portal materialised ahead of the ship. While Corneria's colonies, Aquas and Fichina, both had an orbital gate, and the vulpines of Papetoon had also developed one, none were as large, fast or precise as the original Cornerian facility.

"I should probably take us in, Wolf." Miyu said. He stood up from the console, and she took his place in the 'hot seat', as it was commonly known, and reconfigured the settings to her own personal preferences. She guided the large vessel expertly through the rift in space, and they instantaneously arrived in orbit around what many knew as the 'capital of the Lylat System', Corneria.

Corneria was a beautiful world, with large, lush green continents and azure seas. Orbiting it was the largest artificial satellite known to the races, the Corneria Orbital Gate. A massive structure, protected by CDF fighter squadrons 24/7, the gate was capable of instantly opening a portal to anywhere in the Lylat/Solar or Polaris Systems, and had an optional radius of three and a half light-years in any direction.

"_Welcome home, guys._" Slippy said.

"Well, for most of us..." Falco commented. "Dosen't mean I don't like it, mind you. Corneria is the queen of great bars. She knows how to get a bird drunk."

"Only you could personify Corneria as a woman and not find that weird, Falco." Joseph returned.

"Touché."

As Miyu brought the ship about, the portal shifted and rippled, connecting with a new destination.

"So, what exactly are we getting paid for this?" Wolf asked to kill time.

"_Well, as we're strictly non-military here at R&D, I can't pay you in Liat*, buuuuut, we've been working on improving the Arwing-II design Space Dynamics produced for Fox before the blitz. We were going to grant you six prototypes._"

Fay whistled a low note. "We're _all_ getting IIs? Man, this day just gets better and..."

As the gate linked, at least three dozen armed fighters flew through from the other end, blasting anything that got in their way. A freighter detonated,a ball of silent fire against the black.

"...worse." Fay finished.

* * *

**Noticed this on my hard drive, figured I'd put it up.**

**Expect another update upon the eventual conclusion of ****_The Lone Ranger._**

**I'll see y'all then, unless you want to read that one too. In which case, see you soon.**

**Otherwise, Peace,**

**Wing.**

* * *

**Oh, and one more thing:**

**Each planet will have one (or two, in two cases) type of animal as it's natives, and will have it's naming based on a real-world culture:**

**Corneria - Canine, Lapine - American and English Names. (The usual.)**

**Fichina - Cornerian Colony - Therefore same as above.**

**Aquas - Cornerian Colony - Therefore same as above.**

**Macbeth - Lupine - Scottish and Gaelic Names. (Expect many MacSomethings.)**

**Zoness - Avian, Amphibian - Italian and Spanish Names. ('Beltino' and 'Lombardi' made me think of this.)**

**Katina - Feline - Japanese Names. (We'll just pretend Katt is short for something)**

**Venom - Primate - German and Scandanavian Names. (I can imagine Andrew Oikonny with a squeaky German accent as I type this. ****_snrk..._****)**

**Papetoon - Vulpine - Australian Names (Some names are used quite commonly in Australia you almost never see in the US.)**

* * *

***Liat = Currency (100 Liat = A dollar)**


End file.
